The intermediate group learned two rhythms. The first one was Sewa (which I believe Mamady created himself—I missed the start of the session, so I have no background info on it). The rhythm has a distinct Ivory Coast feel to it. The dunduns are played upright without bells, and the accompaniments are similar to Bete and Begbe (both from Ivory Coast). The second rhythm was Kotedjuga. (It's called Kotedjuga in Guinea and Koredjuga in Mali.)

Mamady improvised to Kotedjuga at the end of the session. Here is a recording.

The advanced group worked on Mamady's solo technique for Soliwulen. Most people were struggling severely with the last two techniques, which require precise micro-timing to sound right.

Mamady improvised to Soliwulen, which was a treat. You can listen to it here.

The pyramid class rehearsed what we learned so far, and Mamady added a few breaks and a set solo to Tiriba. The first two phrases for the solo are played by everyone; for the remainder, Mamady selected eleven players to play the more challenging phrases.

Day 9:

Last day of the camp (other than the final performance day).

The intermediate group learned Lekule and Kassa Soro. Lekule is one of my favourites. Similar in style to Sinte, but with even more groove. Kassa Soro is a nice Kassa variation that I hadn't come across before.

The advanced group continued to work on Soliwulen because Mamady wasn't happy with the results of the previous day. There was a definite improvement overall but, for some people there, the last two techniques in particular were simply beyond their current skill level.

The pyramid class did a few more run-throughs. The main thing today was that Mamady spent quite a bit of time working with the eleven players who did the set solos during Tiriba and Soliwulen. He worked out a choreography for the various phrases where we did things like look up, crouch down, turn left and right, etc. As if we didn't have enough to remember already…

Last edited by michi on Sun Dec 19, 2010 9:13 pm, edited 3 times in total.